Things You Need: The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet by Hunter Hammersen

Today's featured author is Hunter Hammersen, whose work you may already be familiar with through her wildly popular first book, Silk Road Socks. Today, though, I wanted to share with you a little bit about how much I like her latest couple of books, The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet and Rabble Rousers. Let's start with Curiosity Cabinet, shall we?

This has such a gorgeous cover I've been leaving it out on my coffee table ever since it arrived!

This book contains twenty patterns, each inspired by a particular variety of flower or plant. What I find incredibly ingenious here is that there are two designs for every inspiration - one sock pattern, and one accessory pattern. Even better, instead of developing one stitch pattern and applying it to a pair of socks and a coordinating accessory, Hunter has actually taken the time to give each design has its own unique stitch pattern that relates back to the inspiration. Brilliant!

Pinus Silvestris Hat is one of my favorites

I particularly loved all of the little extra pretty things throughout, like the antique, hand-drawn illustrations depicting each of the inspirations. These are so pretty, you'll be tempted to rip them right out of the book and frame them! (But, you know....don't.)

  

The incredible collection of flora illustrations really makes this book quite special!

The front of the book has a lovely intro section all about the history of curiosity cabinets. Who knew that today's variety of decorative hutches had their beginning in science? Not I!

I am so happy to have added this book to my library; not only is it incredibly lovely to look at, but it also contains so many lovely patterns that I have a feeling I'll be referencing it often for quick gift knitting. I'm also thinking that I need a pair of these Dianthus Superbus Socks for myself!

Loasa Lateritia and Dianthus Superbus socks show off Hunter's interpretation of their namesakes

The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet is available in hardback for $26.95 from Amazon, or as a digital eBook for $18.95 from Ravelry. About half of the patterns are also available individually for $6.00; check Ravelry for more details.

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Also new from Hunter is her very newest book, Rabble Rousers. This is a 7-piece accessory collection in the same beautiful style as the previous book, this time in a much more condensed 24 pages.

Another gorgeous cover!

Ruction Cowl, Ruction Mitts, Tumult, Fracas Hat, Uproar, Clamor, and Fracas Cuffs

Talk about bang for your buck! This collection retails for only $12.95 in print or $10.95 for digital, and odds are, if you like one of these patterns, you like them all. (That Clamor cloche is really calling my name! The beauty!) Once again, each knit is styled and photographed absolutely beautifully, making this a book you'll really want to show off. 

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Hunter has generously offered a print/digital combo of The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet and Rabble Rousers to two lucky winners! To enter, leave a comment below stating which book you'd prefer to win.

If you're on Twitter and would like an extra entry, tweet the following:

"Enter to win a FREE copy of Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet or Rabble Rousers from @TheSexyKnitter & @HunterHammersen! http://tinyurl.com/huntergiveaway

Winners will be chosen via the Random Number Generator. I'll announce the winners on December 1st, and the winners will each have 3 days to claim their prize or I'll select someone else.

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